Free Downloads 101 More Track Plans For Model Railroaders
Featuring plans from Model Railroader magazine from three decades, each of the 101 track plans has a newly written, informational description of the design. The track plans range in size from simple 4 x 8 foot and smaller layouts to room- and garage-sized showpieces, with the majority focusing on mid-size layouts.
Series: Model Railroader
Paperback: 88 pages
Publisher: Kalmbach Publishing Company (November 30, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0890247765
ISBN-13: 978-0890247761
Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 0.3 x 10.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #693,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #135 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Toys & Models > Model Trains #54745 in Books > Teens
"101 More Track Plans" was a much-needed addition to the original "101 Track Plans" (which dates back to the 50's). I feel there are two very big improvements in how this book was written: 1. More diverse track plans. My complaint with the original 101 Track Plans was the near repetition of so many plans. I just counted, and 33 of the first 40 plans were based on oval or twice-around designs. Thankfully, 101 More Track Plans presents a great variety of designs. The plans which are similar are appropriately done to illustrate a point, such as how an N-scale version might differ from an HO plan. Many of the plans are from actual layouts, including the layouts of masters such as John Armstrong, John Allen, and Jim Hediger. 2. Scale-specific layouts. As an N-scaler, I enjoy 20" curves, and tend to roll my eyes when someone says "just divide the HO dimensions by 2". With apologies to Z and S, it was nice to see plans that were optimized for different scales and gauges (HO, HOn3, N, G).The reason I'm giving this just a 4-star rating is the plans are still a bit dated. All the plans are from the mid 80's or earlier. So you won't find any of the newer multi-level "mushroom" benchwork designs. And plans that incorporate staging yards are few and far between. I hope this simply means a "Volume 3" book of plans is in the works!I do wish I could give this 4.5 stars. "101 More Track Plans" is truly the new reference book on plans, and is a must-have for any model railroad library.
Model Railroader Books has come out with a long awaited 2nd volume following up on the legendary 101 Track Plans book which was first published in the 1950's.The new volume "101 More Track Plans for Model Railroaders" complied by Jeff Wilson is a collection of track plans which were featured in Model Railroader magazine between the 1960's and the 1980's. The plans cover a variety of scales and plan sizes from small shelf-type layouts to room or basement size fillers.The layouts were designed before the invention of DCC so many of them include "block" or DC wiring plans. Many of the plans include reversing loops and/or wyes so their would be some "not-so-basic" wiring needed to make them work.Jeff Wilson in his introduction mentions the fact that the plans contain a variety of detail. Some plans are ready to build with lots of details about the track and buildings needed to complete it. Others are little more than "concept" drawings that were based on a prototype railroad.Even if you are not interested in the era or region in the plan, the variety of track layouts will give all modelers a wealth of "concepts" to consider when planning their next layout, or revisions to their current one.Hopefully, a third volume will follow with layouts from the 1990's through today which will include some designed around the new technologies of DCC control and a more "linear" format.
It was about time there was a sequel to the original 101 track plans for model railroaders and this one is definitely worth the wait. This catches up on many plans from the 1960's up to the present day (publishing dates, not layout era's) The plans are presented in color although the text for each is very sprase, this book is more for you to get an idea of or from the plans. To complete a plan totally you would need more info if you are a beginner but many of these plans were from project railroads in which case you could possibly still get the original publication with the full text to help you build one. More experienced modelers should easily be able to complete a layout just from these pics. In any case this book has tons (101) of ideas to help you plan your layout and I highly reccommend this one to add to your library.
Most of the plans are just line drawings with some topographic clutter added for color. No information on track, curve radii, etc. Some interesting drawings, but no clues as to how one might create them.
The main value of this book is to get ideas and for inspiration. Beyond that though, there is little use for it as few if any of the plans include enough detail to actually recreate the track plan easily if you're a novice. I guess it served its purpose as it inspired me to pick an interpretation for my track plan based on a railroad line that is 15 miles from my house I wasn't even aware of. However the plan is so vague, other than sparking an idea I'll have to recreate it on my own. What's more is that it appears this is just a compilation of articles from past issues of Model Railroader and there may have been more to the article than was reprinted. In the end I spent $18 to get an idea from one page that doesn't give me enough information to act upon.
I really hesitated before I bought this book. I had the original 101 Track Plans and was disappointed at how dated all the plans in it were. And they all looked the same. I was hoping this would be somewhat different, given the reviews it had. But, it's just pages upon pages of spaghetti bowls. Completely unrealistic piles of track crammed on tables with no original ideas whatsoever. The original 101 Track Plans at least had several unique and interesting designs. This one is worthless.If you're looking for track planning ideas, do yourself a favor and do your research online. Go buy a building kit or a boxcar with the money you save. Some good places to start:[...][...][...][...][...][...][...]Better yet, get a subscription to Model Railroader which gives you access to their track plan database.
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